Safety razor



0. WILLHELM Dec. 25, 195i SAFETY RAZOR Filed Nov. 15, 1946 FIG. I

FIG. 8

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ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNIT ED STATES SAFETY RAZOR Oscar Willhelm, New London, Conn, assignor: to Durham-Finders Razor Corporation. a. cor ora? tion of: New York.

Application November 15, 1946, Serial No. 710,061

7. Claims.

This invention relates to an improved safety razor and also to an improved blade construction.

In prior safety razor constructions of the type wherein the blade-holder is formed of one piece and theblade is secured on the holder by flexingof tongues provided-on the ends of the blade I have found that there is atendency for the blade to be bowed along its length away from the blade seat. Therefore uniform shaving will not be obtained along the full length of the cutting edge of the blade, because the central portion of the cutting edge will be closer to the guard on the bladeholder than the remainder of the cutting edge. One of the main objects. of the invention, therefore is to keep. the cutting edge of theblade parallel to the guard.

For this purpose the: bladeseatv of the: blade holdermay be provided with a lug or loop1 en gaging a central finger or prong on the bladeto preventbowing thereof. In this manner the cutting edge of the blade can be maintained parallel to the guard and uniformly efiective. shaving will be obtained along the full length thereof.

Another object of: the invention is to eliminate chattering. of the, cutting edge during; shaving, Upon; inspection. of the type of safety razor referred to it will be seen that the; cutting edge of. theblade, will flex readily if stressed during shaving. When the central portion of the blade inimy. improved safety razor is heldagainst the blade seat the cutting edge will be more rigid. Accordingly-the cutting edgev will vibrate less during shaving resulting in better shaving; and the useful life of the edge will be increased, because 3 it will not break down or be bent so readily.

Still another object of the invention is to hold the blade more firmly inplace so that there will be less chance of the blade slipping over the step or ridge on the blade seat which engages the rear edge of the blade. Inthe prior safety razor construction referred to the blade may be flexed so readily that it can easily slip over the step on the blade seat, whereas with my construction it will be held much more tightly against said blade seat and hence there is less tendency for slippingover said ridge.

Another object'of the invention is to improve the registration oralignment of the cutting edge of the blade with the guard. Since my-blade will be held more firmly in the blade holder'there is less likelihood of displacement of the blade from the proper shaving-position;

In theaccompanying drawings which form a part of F this specification and; in which like chan- 2 acters of reference indicate the same or like parts. 7

Fig. l is a plan view takenfrom the line l'-I= of Fig. 2 of a safety razor embodying my invention and equipped with my improved blade;

Fig. 2 isa side elevation ofthe-same;

Fig. 3 isa cross-section of" the improved safety razor taken on the-line 3-3 of Fig. 1-, showing how the central prong or finger of the razor blade is deflected upwardly by: the lug on the blade seat;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the improved safety razor, the bladebeing omitted from this view and the handle beingbroken away;

Fig. 5 is abottom view: of my safety razor, the blade being omitted in this view;

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of" my safety razor, the handle being broken away and the blade being omitted inthis'viewy Fig. 7 is a plan view of myv improved safety razor blade; and

Fig. 8 is an end view of the blade.

The embodiment of my blade which I" have found suitable for my improved razor construction is illustrated in Fig- 7:; The blade is formed of metal of a suitable; thickness; which may be approximately .012 inch, and? has a main body portion l0 provided with aoutting; edge i2 along its forward longitudinal edgel2; and a pair oi. ears I41extendingforwardlyfrom the rear longi tudinal edge of the blade. Tongues M are narrow enough; to permit fijexure thereof independently of the main body portion in, wheninserted in the blade holder, to retain the blade in shaving position. A-n elongated slot H5 formed in the. central-portion: of the body portion ll) of the blade extends transversely thereof.- towards the cutting edge. A finger or prong l5 extending forwardly from the rear edge of slot is. en-

gages a lug or loop on the blade holder hereinafter described to prevent. bowing of the blade along its length which results when, the lugs 56 are flexed in theblade holder. Except for the slot l6 and prong l8, the construction of my blade is similar to that disclosed in Bigoney Patent 1,791,552.

The blade holderhas ahandle 20, upon which ahead 22 may be suitably secured. The head 22 has a guard portion 24 provided with teeth 28. End walls 28, which are formed integrally with guard portion 24, are integrally connected to a blade seat 30.

The front edge of'the blade seat is sufficiently spaced fromithe guard teeth 26 topermit the cutting edge of. the blade: tube inserted between these two parts. The end walls 32 of the blade seat extend upwardly from shoulders or slideways 34 formed on the upper face of the guard portion 22. These shoulders 34 are suitably inclined upwardly to cam or displace the ears l4 upwardly when the blade is slid along the inner face of the blade seat 38- to insert its cutting edge into the space between the front edge of the blade seat and the guard teeth 26.

The space between the inner faces of the end walls 32 of the blade seat is sufiicient to admit the main body portion IU of the blade with a slight clearance, and the space between the lateral edges of the body portion of the blade and the ears I4 is suflicient to admit these end walls. On the bottom of the rear edge of the blade seat are formed a pair of steps or ridges 36 which serve to flex the rear edge of the blade until it snaps in front of steps 36. The rear edges of the end walls 32 are disposed to engage the bases of the ears 32 when the blade is fully inserted after its rear edge has been snapped in front of the ridges 36. Thus the inserted blade will be retained in shaving position.

However, when the blade is inserted as described, the blade would tend to be bowed along its length, if no provision to prevent bowing of the blade were made to permit uniform shaving along the entire length of the cutting edge. The central portion of the cutting edge of the blade will be closer to the guard teeth than the remainder thereof because the blade is bowed during insertion into'the blade holder.

To prevent bowing of the blade there may be provided on the blade seat 30 a U-shaped lug or loop Ml suitably secured thereon or formed integrally therewith. When the blade is inserted the'prong [8 of the blade engages an upwardly inclined cam surface 42 on the inner face of the loop 40. When the prong [8 slides over cam surface 42 during insertion of the blade, it is flexed upwardly to an extent sufficient to prevent bowing of the cutting edge of the blade.

Thus the cutting edge of the blade will be main tained in a position parallel to the guard teeth along its entire length and uniformly effective shaving will be obtained along the full length thereof. Moreover the cutting edge of the blade will be held more rigidly and will chatter less during shaving. Since the blade is held more firmly, there will be less possibility of the rear edge of the blade slipping back over the ridges 36 on the blade seat 38. Furthermore there will be less likelihood of the blade being displaced from its proper shaving position wherein its cutting edge is aligned with the guard teeth 26.

' What is claimed is:

l. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a pair of integral resilient ears projecting forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot in its central portion extending transversely across the blade and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat'connected to said guard and suflicient- 1y spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, and a member on said blade seat adapted to engage and flex said prong upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed.

upwardly by said shoulders.

2. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a pair of integral resilient ears projecting forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot in its central portion extending transversely across the blade and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufiiciently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, a member on said blade seat adapted to engage and flex said prong upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along a the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders, and a ridge on the bottom of the blade seat extending downwardly toward said guard along the rear edge thereof to engage the rear edge of the inserted blade and thereby retain said ears in their upwardly flexed position on said shoulders and prevent displacement thereof.

3. A safety razor blade holder for flexible blades of the type having integral flexible ears and a centrally located flexible prong, said safety razor blade holder including a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufllciently spaced therefrom to permit said razor blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and upwardly flex the ears on the blade, said blade seat having portions adapted to engage the rear edge of the inserted blade after said ears have been flexed upwardly by the shoulders whereby the blade will be retained on the blade seat in shaving position, and a member on said bladeseat adapted to engage and flex upwardly the central prong on the inserted blade to prevent bowing of the cutting edge of the inserted blade.

4. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a main body portion and a pair of integral flexible ears projecting outside said body portion forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot in its central portion extending transversely across the blade anda flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge Of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufficiently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to beinserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, and a generally U-shaped member on said blade seat having its closed portion extending downwardly beyond the under side of the blade seat to embrace and flex said prong upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat, and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders, the inner surface of said closed portion being inclined upwardly toward the cutting edge of the blade to cam said central prong into flexed position.

5. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a main body portion and a pair of integral flexible ears projecting outside of said body portion forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having slot within said main body portion and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufliciently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, and a member on said blade seat extending downwardly therefrom and transversely to engage the under side of said prong to flex it upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat, and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders, the inner surface of the transversely extending portion of said member being inclined upwardly toward the cutting edge of the blade to cam said prong into flexed position.

6. A flexible safety razor blade having a main body portion provided with a cutting edge on its forward longitudinal edge and integral flexible ears disposed in the plane of the blade and extending outside said main body portion and forwardly from the rear edge of said main body portion toward its cutting edge, the central portion of the main body portion of the blade being provided with an opening from the rear edge of which projects a flexible prong normally disposed in the plane of the blade and adapted to be flexed outside of the plane of the blade and thereby hold the portion of the blade intermediate its ends against a blade holder and thus prevent bowing of the cutting edge created by flexing said ears out of the plane of the blade.

'7. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a main body portion and a pair of integral flexible ears projecting outside said body portion forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot in its central portion extending transversely across the blade and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufiiciently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, and a member connected to said blade seat and having a portion extending along the under side of the blade seat to engage and flex said prong upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat, and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders.

OSCAR WILLHELM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,791,552 Bigoney Feb. 10, 1931 2,041,680 Pilliod et al May 19, 1936 2,169,383 Drew Aug. 15, 1939 

